Washington – The White House on Wednesday defended its interpretation of declassified intelligence findings, saying they back President Bush’s rationale for sticking with his strategy in Iraq, while Democrats and others said the document proved that the U.S. invasion had increased the terrorist threat.
However, the Bush administration refused to release the full 30-page report, saying doing so would place American personnel in danger.
The White House also rebuffed calls for the completion and release of a new intelligence report that focuses even more closely on conditions in Iraq.
That report will not be finished before next year, the White House said. The five-page portion of the report declassified and released Tuesday concluded terrorism is growing and spreading worldwide, fueled by the war in Iraq, and that the “Iraq jihad” was shaping “a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives.”
The report is known as a National Intelligence Estimate, a consensus view of the CIA and 15 other U.S. intelligence agencies.
White House spokesman Tony Snow fiercely defended Bush’s views that the U.S. is winning the war against terrorism. “Let’s start with the obvious. Since September 11, 2001, we have not been attacked,” Snow said.
However, Democrats countered that the report showed that Iraq was inspiring, training and equipping militants to go elsewhere and launch attacks.
“Iraq has become a breeding ground for terrorists,” said Colorado Democrat Sen. Ken Salazar. “The world is a much more dangerous place today.”
The debate over the intelligence findings comes as national security dominates the midterm election campaigns that will determine control of Congress and as strained U.S. forces in Iraq struggle to establish order in the capital of Baghdad. U.S. military officials in Iraq said Wednesday that the number of suicide attacks was highest of any week yet.
Without giving numbers, they said that attacks overall had risen in the past two weeks, especially around Baghdad, despite an influx of U.S. troops in Baghdad, as insurgents attempt to discredit the Iraqi government.
Officials said they do not expect any other portions of the report to be declassified.
